AEW Dark results: Dante Martin vs. Lee Moriarty
It’s Tuesday and you know what that means. This was taped in Pittsburgh last Friday before the debut episode of AEW Rampage. I know because I was there!
2.0 (Matt Lee and Jeff Parker) defeated Sam Adams and Syler Andrews (3:52)
2.0 got the win ahead of their big Texas tornado match against Sting and Darby Allin on Dynamite Wednesday. Parker hit a “lazy” (according to Taz) stinger splash on Adams. 2.0 finished Andrews with a double hotshot (Two for the Show) and Lee got the pin.
Tay Conti defeated Rebecca Scott (2:30)
Ricky Starks was on commentary while Scott was making her AEW debut. Conti is awesome and did an excellent job working the crowd into her match. She got the win after judo throws, a stomach buster, a pump kick in the corner and the DDTay. Conti continues to look like a huge star in the making.
Lee Johnson and Brock Anderson (w/ Arn Anderson) defeated Joey Keys and Spencer Slade (3:10)
Thunder Rosa replaced Starks on commentary, talking about the community outreach AEW did in Pittsburgh at a local food bank. Anderson got Keys into his corner and laid deep shoulders into his opponent’s midsection. A short time later, Anderson hit a DDT on Keys for the win.
Matt Hardy (w/ Private Party) defeated Wheeler Yuta (w/ Chuck Taylor) (6:42)
Hardy dumped Yuta to the floor where he got into an argument with Private Party. Hardy took advantage and dropkicked Yuta through the ropes and into the barricade. Back in the ring, Hardy got a near fall after a hangman’s neckbreaker. Yuta tried to come back with some punches, but Hardy cut him off with a sleeper. Yuta escaped and countered with a sleeper of his own. Hardy escaped, but Yuta hit an enziguri and a shotgun dropkick off the middle rope for a near fall. Hardy came back with a side effect for two. He went for the Twist of Fate, but Yuta escaped and hit an angle slam.
Yuta went up top, but got distracted by Private Party. Hardy followed him up for a superplex, but Yuta pushed him off the top and hit a crossbody for a near fall. Hardy came up selling his leg, claiming his ankle was broken. Private Party got up on the apron to distract both the ref and Yuta, allowing Hardy to take off his boot and use it as a weapon to hit Yuta and get the pin.
After the match, Private Party ran in to attack Yuta and Taylor. Orange Cassidy “ran” in to make the save, dropping Hardy with the Orange Punch. Private Party had to carry Hardy to the back where they revived him on the entrance stage (this wasn’t shown on TV, but I saw it live and it was pretty funny).
Penelope Ford defeated Masha Slamovich (4:30)
Rosa was back on commentary singing the praises of Slamovich. Ford dominated early, but Slamovich came back with a half and half suplex and bridge for a near fall. Ford countered with a Juice Box and tied up Slamovich with the Muta lock for the tapout.
After the match, Ford attacked Slamovich which led to Rosa leaving the commentary desk to make the save. I guess that might be a new program, coming soon to a YouTube show near you.
Kris Statlander (w/ Best Friends) defeated Kiera Hogan (4:02)
Hogan made her debut on Elevation last night against Hikaru Shida. Best Friends were dressed in matching tracksuits that did not impress Taz or Starks (back on commentary). Hogan looked good here. She caught Statlander in a standing guillotine, but Statlander muscled her up into a long delayed vertical suplex. A fisherwoman’s falcon arrow got a near fall for Statlander who won following an electric chair drop and the Big Bang Theory to keep her long winning streak alive.
Death Triangle (w/ Alex Abrahantes) defeated Chaos Project and Cole Karter (3:52)
Luther screamed and screeched through the match in a way that I assure you was way more annoying in person than on TV. Rey Fenix got squashed in the corner by all the heels and ate a high knee from Karter early on. Fenix came back with a pump kick and got the tag to Penta. When PAC got the tag in, Andrade El Idolo’s music played to distract him. El Idolo’s crew came out and Karter almost got the pin off the distraction roll-up. However, PAC kicked out and kicked Karter in the face. He started jawing at El Idolo, but they just left.
Luther decided leaving was a good idea for both he and Serpentico so they left Karter to get superkicked by PAC. Fenix hit Chaos Project with a plancha and Penta stuffed Karter with a package piledriver for the pin. No surprise, but Death Triangle was hugely over with the crowd.
Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero) defeated Tina San Antonio (0:38)
San Antonio is from New York City and went back there with a loss in 40 seconds to Rose via the Beast Bomb.
After the match, Guerrero cut a screeching promo you couldn’t hear in the arena live because of the boos and catcalls from the crowd. On TV, it was simply hard to hear because of the screeching. She made vague threats about beating whoever holds the Women’s title.
Dark Order (John Silver, Alex Reynolds and 10) defeated Andrew Palace, Bill Collier and RSP (4:38)
On commentary, Taz predicted the Dark Order will split up. Collier is a local talent who had some support from the crowd. This was his AEW return as had appearances on both Dark and Dark Elevation back in April, looking good against both Jon Moxley and Hangman Page. He also looked good here. Reynolds wound up taking a beating from the heels early on, including a spear onto the ring apron. Collier dropped Reynolds with a gorilla press, but missed a boot and Silver got the tag to Reynolds.
Reynolds looked awesome against Palace, hitting clotheslines and a huge back body drop. He followed up with a release german suplex on Palace and Collier and then dropped RSP (Rickey Shane Page) with a brainbuster. 10 got the tag and clotheslined RSP to the floor. 10 and Reynolds combined for a cool move where Reynolds started out in a power bomb position on 10’s shoulders before 10 flipped him out of the ring and he moonsaulted onto his opponents on the floor.
Back in the ring, 10 hit a spinebuster on Palace which set up a crazy sequence of moves from Reynolds and Silver. 10 then caught Palace in the full nelson for the submission.
Frankie Kazarian defeated Brandon Cutler (w/ Michael Nakazawa) (5:53)
I liked Cutler better when he dressed like a dragon. This was pretty much bad comedy. Kazarian got into it with both Nakazawa and Cutler on the floor and Kazarian shoved Nakazawa so hard that he flew into the front row and sat there for a while. Cutler went to the top rope, but Kazarian caught him and slammed him off the top to the mat. Nakazawa tripped Kazarian in the ropes and Cutler got an advantage, dropping ridiculous looking elbows.
Nakazawa threw the cold spray to Kazarian, but when he tried to use it, the spray locked up. Cutler then turned the cold spray on himself to see what was wrong. He hit the nozzle and of course, it worked and he sprayed himself in the face. Cutler sold like a goofball and Kazarian slapped on the crossface chicken wing for the submission.
The Varsity Blonds (w/ Julia Hart) and Jurassic Express defeated The Wingmen (Peter Avalon, JD Drake, Cezar Bononi and Ryan Nemeth) (7:48)
The Express got a big win ahead of their Tag Team title match with the Young Bucks Wednesday in Houston.
The crowd was solidly behind Jungle Boy who started the match with Avalon. Jungle Boy cleared the ring of all the heels and stood tall to soak in the adulation of the crowd. Brian Pillman Jr. got the tag and worked with Drake who has a Mr. Hughes/Bubba Rogers look.
As the match continued, Griff Garrison got into trouble in the heel corner. Drake worked him over with a chinlock. Bononi got the tag and tossed Garrison into the corner so Drake could follow up with a cannonball. Nemeth hit a hangman’s neckbreaker on Garrison and Avalon followed up with a top rope splash for the near fall. Garrison hit Avalon with a big boot and got the tag to Luchasaurus, who destroyed all the heels.
He hit the tail whip on Drake and gorilla pressed Avalon onto his partners on the floor. Nemeth took a chokeslam from Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy locked him in the snare trap for the submission.
After the match, Luchasaurus put Hart on his shoulders and the Blonds put Jungle Boy on their shoulders in a cute spot.
Dante Martin defeated Lee Moriarty (4:47)
Moriarity is from Pittsburgh and was making his AEW debut. They started out with a handshake to pop the crowd, followed by dueling chants. The way Martin flies around the ring is amazing. Moriarty tried to focus on Martin’s arm and work his opponent on the mat. Martin hit a dropkick, an enziguri and a double jump moonsault for a near fall. Martin went for a roundhouse kick, but Moriarty ducked and went back to Martin’s arm. Martin caught Moriarty on the second attempt of a roundhouse kick and caught him with a beautiful sunset flip for the pinfall.
Martin is a star now. This was great.
Final Thoughts:
The crowd was hot and none of the matches hung around longer than they needed to with the expectation of Kazarian and Cutler. This week’s show was definitely a fun one that is worth checking out.